Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
1.5. Of the dogge and of the pyece of flessh
(Perry 133)
He that desyreth to haue other mens goodes oft he loseth his owne good
/ wherof Esope reherceth to vs suche a fable / In tyme passed was a dogge
that wente ouer a brydge / and held in his mouthe a pyece of flesshe /
and as he passed ouer a brydge / he perceyued and sawe the shadowe of
hym / and of his pyece of flesshe within the water / And he wenynge that
it had be another pyece of flesshe / forthwith he thought to haue
take it / And as he opend his mouthe / the pyece of flesshe fylle in to
the water / And thus he lost hit / Ryghte soo is of many / for whanne
they thynke to robbe other / they lese theyr owne and propre good / wherfor
for the loue of a vayn thynge men ought not to leue that whiche is certeyn
Ryghte soo is of many / for whanne they thynke to robbe other / they
lese theyr owne and propre good / wherfor for the loue of a vayn thynge
men ought not to leue that whiche is certeyn
 Caxton
published his edition of Aesop's fables in 1484. There are modern reprints by
Joseph Jacobs (D. Nutt: London, 1889) and more recently by Robert Lenaghan (Harvard
University Press: Cambridge, 1967). Lenaghan's edition is available at amazon.com.
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